Salvianolic Acid A Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits the C-Met Expression in Hepatocellular Carcinoma HepG2 Cell Line

OBJECTIVE To study the effect of salvianol acid A (SalA) on the protein expression of proto-oncogene c-Met in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell line, and explore the potential mechanism of the anti-proliferation and induce-apoptosis effects of SalA on HepG2 cells. METHODS MTT and Flow cytometry methods were used to analyze the anti-proliferation and induce-apoptosis effects of SalA on HepG2 cells. Western blotting and PCR methods were used to analyze the mRNA and protein expression of c-Met and the downstream proteins. RESULTS SalA could effectively inhibit the proliferation of HepG2 cells in vitro, and induce the cell apoptosis. The inhibitory effect was in a dose and incubation time dependent manner. The protein expression and the tyrosine kinase activity of proto-oncogene c-Met and the downstream signal protein AKT were decreased significantly in HepG2 cells after treatment with SalA. The expression of apoptosis-related proteins (Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-9) could also be inhibited significantly. CONCLUSION SalA can inhibit the proliferation of HepG2 cells and the mechanism may be related with inhibiting the activation of proto-oncogene c-Met and the downstream protein AKT, which triggering the cells apoptosis.